The next day seemed as if it would last forever. Grace called earlier to say she was going out of town with her parents to a family wedding and she wouldn’t be back until tomorrow. Without Grace to hang out with, or the horses to ride and care for, there was nothing for Shay or Larissa to do except watch the boring DVD’s that the Halliwells allowed and to re-clean their already clean bedroom. Larissa, always eager to be around food, helped Jolene bake a pie for dessert and then make some cookies for lunches the following week. Shay declined Jolene’s offer to get involved in the baking. She was depressed and moody, and baking with her foster mother seemed too much like playing at being a real mother and daughter. The last thing Shay wanted to do in this mood was pretend to be a part of something that would never happen.
Worse yet, she had too much time to think, and she began to realize that the Girls Detective Club was never going to solve this or any other mystery. She knew that the three girls had gone as far with this as they could. Something had to be done about the pictures and it had to be done soon.
The weekend dragged on but Monday finally arrived and Shay was glad to be back at school. She kept an eye out for Ginger and Sharon but she only saw them in the halls between classes a few times and nothing seemed amiss with either of them. It was hard for Shay not stare at the older teens, but she did her best to look nonchalant each time they passed. It was a good day though; lots of kids that she had talked to at the movie and the Club said hi to her, and although she was relieved that Braden didn’t try to sit with her at lunch, she was still secretly pleased when he said hi and smiled at her in math class and again in socials.
Finally, the day ended and Grace and Shay almost ran to the school bus, both wanting to talk about what to do next.
“We’ve got to get together and decide what to do about the camera,” Grace said quietly to Shay as they sat in the seats at the back row of the bus. Larissa bounced into the seat in front of them just as the bus pulled away from the curb. The bus jolted as the driver clumsily shifted gears and Larissa grabbed at the back of the seat to get her balance.
“So what are you guys talking about? Are we going to have a meeting again?” Larissa asked as she righted herself on the seat.
“Shhh,” Shay said. “Yes, we are, but you don’t have to announce it. Ginger’s on this bus too, if you remember.”
Larissa turned around to look. Ginger sat near the middle of the bus, an iPod plugged into her ears and her head bobbing back and forth to some music.
“She almost never rides the bus. I’m sure she goes to town after school and then rides home with her mom when she gets off work,” Grace said.
“Yeah, this is weird,” Shay said. “Well, we can’t exactly ask her why she’s on the bus. And we can’t keep whispering either or everyone will start looking at us.”
“Oh right, we can’t look suspicious,” Larissa said a little too loud and then turned around to face the front. A moment later, she turned back again and said “If you guys decide to have a meeting, let me know, okay?”
Shay gave her the thumbs up and waited till Larissa turned back to the front. “We have to come up with a plan, you know,” she said to Grace, keeping her voice as low as she could without whispering. “We can’t keep this camera forever and we can’t keep quiet about Ginger and Sharon any longer. Someone has to know about what’s going on and deal with it, even if it wrecks our investigation.”
“I know,” Grace said. “I kept thinking that something would happen and we’d have the next step, but it’s been too long. We’re getting nowhere.”
“We’re going to be the one’s in trouble now, for sure,” Shay said. “We’ve known about a really bad thing and we kept it a secret. My social worker will flip out, and the Halliwells are never going to trust me again.” Shay knew only too well that once trust was lost, it was gone for good.
“Well, they might be mad at you for a while, but they’re nice people. They aren’t going to do anything awful to you,” Grace said.
“No, they won’t beat me or anything, but they won’t ever trust me again, and they might have me moved to a new foster home,” Shay said dejectedly. “Or even if they don’t ask to have me moved my social worker might do it anyway.”
“Why would they move you to another place?” Grace was alarmed.
“Because that’s what happens to foster kids. If you do anything people don’t like, they just move you to some other foster home,” Shay answered.
“I don’t understand…why would they move you just because we kept the camera for a few days?” Grace asked
“That’s only one reason, Grace. The other reason would be because we went back to the barn when we weren’t supposed to, so they’ll know they can’t trust me and that I lied to them,” Shay sighed. “I knew all this could happen. It just seemed more important at the time to save the horses. I guess I was destined to lose everything no matter what,” Shay said.
“What about Larissa?” Grace whispered as quietly as she could, so that Larissa couldn’t hear her. “What will happen to her? Will they move her to another foster home too?”
“They might keep Larissa because she’s still young and they’ll know she was just doing what we said. But I’ll be gone, that’s for sure,” Shay turned her head towards the window and bit her lip to keep the tears from falling.
“Well, we can’t let that happen. I don’t want to lose my best friend! We have to get the camera to the police without anyone knowing we had it,” Grace said with determination. “I know what we can do. We can mail it to them.”
That was such a simple solution. Shay couldn’t believe she hadn’t thought of it herself. “Okay,” she nodded, almost too relieved to talk. After a minute she found her voice and said, “But what do we do about solving the mystery? This doesn’t help us find the person who hurt Mr. Fletcher, and that means Fletcher will still sell the horses.”
“I know,” Grace said. “I think about this all the time, but I can’t come up with anyway to solve this case. So much for my brilliant and logical mind,” she sighed
“Well, I guess at least we’ll know we did the right thing for Ginger and Sharon--not that they’d ever appreciate it if they knew,” Shay said. I can live with losing the horses, Shay thought. I know how to lose everything that matters to me.
The girls sat back, both of them in a funk, both silent in their thoughts. Shay looked out the window at the deep, green lake as the bus rolled along the highway towards the Proctor ferry. She loved the way the lake changed from a deep summer blue to a dark, rich green colour in the winter months. It almost looked like velvet ribbon that was caught at the bottom of the two mountain ranges and it gave her a sense of peace and stability, even when the storms came and the winds sent the waves the pounding onto the beach. It was still the same lake, no matter what home or town she lived in. It’s the only thing in my life that changes without hurting me, Shay thought.
The bus driver drove the long vehicle onto the small ferry and some of the kids, including Shay, Grace and Larissa got out of the bus. Shay and Grace and Larissa went to the railing and Shay looked again into the deep green of the water that churned up from the ferry’s propellers.
“Hey,” Larissa said suddenly. “Look at Ginger.”
The other two glanced casually over at the older teen, trying not to be conspicuous.
“She’s got her books and her backpack,” Grace said loudly, forgetting her attempt to be discreet. “She’s going to get off the ferry at the landing!”
“Why would she do that?” Larissa almost shouted.
“Shhhh,” Shay said to both of them. “She isn’t walking home from here. It’s too far to her house. Do you think she’s going back to the barn?”
“That’s exactly what I think,” Grace said, nodding her head vigorously. “But why would she risk it when she knows that someone knows about the photo sessions?”
“Maybe she’s going to look to see if she left anything in the barn,” Shay said. “Maybe she’s looking for the ca
mera. The man who took the pictures is probably the same guy who hit Mr. Fletcher, and he’s probably pretty scared by now.”
“What are we going to do about this?” Larissa asked.
The ferry was almost at the landing and the kids started to get back on the bus. Shay, Grace and Larissa scrambled on and went to their seats, all the while craning their necks to see what direction Ginger took after she walked off the ferry.
“Look,” Shay said excitedly to the others, “she’s taking my route to the barn. That path only leads to Fletcher’s place in the winter, so that’s for sure where she’s going.”
“What are we going to do now?” Grace asked.
“I don’t know, I have to think,” Shay answered. “We can’t get off the bus. Jolene and your parents would be looking for us right away if we didn’t get home on time and they’d go straight to the barn and I don’t know now we’d explain what we were doing there, especially if there’s a bunch of other people there as well,” she said to Grace. “And I can’t say I have to go to your house for homework because she won’t let me do that unless Dave drives me because Jolene thinks it’s too cold out this time of year for us to be outside much at all,” Shay let out a grunt of frustration. Why do I finally have to live with people who take care of me just when I actually need some freedom?
“Well, as always with this mystery, we’re out of luck,” Grace said. “We just have to go with our plan to mail the camera and forget about it all.”
They had arrived at the end of the Halliwell’s road and the driver pulled the bus over to the stop and set the flashers going. Shay and Larissa got off the bus and started walking slowly up the long driveway. The frozen snow made a crunching sound under their feet and filled in the quiet.
“Did you and Grace decide to give up?” Larissa said finally, breaking the heavy silence.
“Yup,” Shay answered, “there isn’t any choice. We can’t think of anything else to do, so we’re going to mail the camera to the police and hope for the best.”
“Well, I don’t agree with this decision at all. I thought we were going to solve the mystery and save the horses,” Larissa said. “This isn’t fair. The horses will get sold and we’ll be the losers again, just like always.”
“I know,” Shay began, and then held up her hand and stopped Larissa in her tracks. “Look at the house,” she said. “There aren’t any lights!” The girls had been so intent on their conversation that they only just noticed that the house, usually well lit to welcome them home and shine their way into the warmth of the kitchen, was dark.
“Oh,” exclaimed Larissa, “you’re right. What’s going on? Something must be wrong! Jolene’s always there with the lights on for us.”
“I’ll go first, you follow close behind me,” Shay said as they kicked off their boots in the enclosed porch. Shay slowly entered the large kitchen, usually full of the smells of dinner and baking, but now quiet and still. Shay flipped the light switch and immediately saw the note on the kitchen table.
“What does it say?” asked Larissa, trying to read over Shay’s shoulder.
Shay picked it up and read,
Shay and Larissa –
Dave was hurt at work and is at the hospital. He broke his wrist and has to have a cast put on. I will drive him home later tonight. Don’t worry - he will be okay. Take a pizza from the freezer and microwave it for supper. Make sure you have some milk and fruit and get a couple of cupcakes out of the freezer for your dessert. If you have an emergency call Mrs. Norton. Don’t go out in the cold.
Love, Jolene
“Wow, that’s really awful!” Shay said.
“Do you think he’s hurt very badly?” Larissa asked, her voice quivering.
“It can’t be all that bad if he’s coming home tonight,” Shay answered. “And Jolene said in the note that he’s okay. A broken wrist isn’t good, but it isn’t the worst that can happen in a mill accident, that’s for sure.” Shay looked over at Larissa and saw tears in the younger girl’s eyes. She reached out and hugged Larissa. “He’ll be okay, Larissa.”
“I know, it’s just that I really like Dave and Jolene and I don’t like to think of them getting hurt,” she snuffled. “Besides, we’d have to move if he was badly hurt, and I don’t want that either!”
Shay gave a last squeeze of Larissa’s shoulders and then walked over to the box of tissues on the counter by the phone. “Here, catch,” she said as she tossed the box playfully at Larissa.
Larissa stood still as the box flew past her and dropped just behind her feet. “Hey,” she said, “you know what this means?”
“Yeah, it means that you can’t catch,” Shay grinned and went to the freezer to get the pizza for dinner.
“No, it means that we’re alone and no one will know if we go to Fletcher’s barn to see what Ginger’s doing!” Larissa said excitedly.
“You’re right!” Shay exclaimed, shutting the freezer and putting the frozen pizza on the table. “Except I’m going to the barn alone and you’re staying here.”
“No I’m not,” Larissa said hotly. “I’m part of the Detectives Club and I’m coming with you.”
“You’re part of the Detectives Club, but you’re not coming with me. It’s too cold for you to be outside,” Shay said softly. “I really like you, Larissa, you’re a good kid. If I had a real sister, I’d want her to be just like you.”
“You would?” Larissa responded with wide eyes. “You really like me?”
“Yup, I do,” Shay said, “and that means that I want to make sure you’re safe. It’s cold out there and it’s dark and you’re only twelve. So, you stay here and have dinner and I’ll be back before you know it. I’ll for sure be back before Jolene and Dave come home from the hospital so I don’t get caught. ”
“Promise me you’re just going to see what Ginger’s doing and come back,” Larissa said anxiously. “Nothing else!”
“That’s all I’m going to do. I’ll run down to the barn, see if she’s still there, and what’s going on. Then I’ll be right back, I promise,” Shay said. “Save me some pizza,” she called as she quickly put on her coat and boots and grabbed a small flashlight from the shelf.
Chapter Ten
Caught